Red switchgrass ‘Shenandoah’
Switchgrass ‘Shenandoah’ with seedheads.
* Common name: Red switchgrass ‘Shenandoah’
* Botanical name: Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’
* What it is: A native perennial ornamental grass with red-tinged green blades and airy pinkish seedheads in late summer and fall.
* Size: Clumps go 3 feet up and creep 3 feet out in a few years. Seedheads add another foot of height.
* Where to use: As sentry plants on either side of a door, gate or entryway or as a loose hedge. Also nice spotted as colorful texture plants in a perennial garden or on a sunny bank. Full sun to light shade.
* Care: Cut to a stub in March. Once established, no water or fertilizer needed. If clumps spread where you don’t want them, dig up and divide in spring… fist-sized pieces transplant easily. Tolerates fairly damp areas, too.
* Great partner: Sedum ‘Neon,’ ‘Brilliant’ or ‘Autumn Joy.’